Love and Spirituality

Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. –Ecclesiastes 7:9

For what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. -1 Corinthians 2:11-13

All human attempts to explain God are inadequate, and can even distort our priorities, confuse our thinking, and flatten our understanding of the spiritual life. God’s truth, we must rely on God’s power rather than man’s wisdom. -1 Corinthians 2:5

When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your...deed may be in secret. –Matthew 6:3-4   “May our gifts be sacrificial, from our hearts, and full of love; Secretive and never showy, Pleasing our great God above. –Sper

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. –Galatians 5:26   “Think not alone of outward form; its beauty will depart; But cultivate the Spirit’s fruits, that grow within the heart. –D. De Haan

"We sometimes find when we look at Bible stories that people think they know what they say. When we look more closely we sometimes find that the text is ambivalent." Ambivalent? Unbelievably, homosexuality in Sodom and Gomorrah may not have been the sin which brought God's judgment.. the greatest sin of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah may have been their lack of hospitality towards guests visiting their city, and not sexual deviance (never mind the mob of queers about to break down lot's front door and rape the guests - Genesis 19:4-9). We have to remember the Hebrews were a nomad people in a dry, hostile environment. Weather and suspicious neighbors made hospitality a matter of survival. Being welcomed in a stranger's home or tent could mean the difference between life and death. The crime was pride. And it was inhospitality.

Unfortunately Church tradition of today has bought into these twisting of scripture and ignores true biblical research to find the truths of scripture. But many Christians and ministers just think they know it all and many are totally unaware of the background of some of their false teachings. This is the true abomination...all the hurt caused by the lies and false teaching instead of loving people just as God created them, regardless of their natural sexual orientation. It is very clear there is no choice in sexual orientation and the terrible hurt and failure of the "change-em" ministries is full of evidence how impossible and harmful trying to change ones God given sexual orientation can be. But ignorance prevails and the lies continues which all Christians should be ashamed of and speak out against. -Cool Cat

O Lord, my heart is filled with love For others who have urgent needs So help me share in every way What I can give through words and deeds. -Hess

The thought manifests as the word

The word manifests as the deed

The deed develops into habit

And habit hardens into character.

So watch the thought and its ways with care

And let it spring from love

Born out of concern for all beings

~ Buddha 2500BC

 "I believe there is a perfect good and there is a perfect evil, it is why we are imperfect, because we need to choose between the two in everything that we do." -Cool Cat

"Our differences should be celebrated not debated." -Cool Cat

It seems to me that the more hate mongering and negative emotions that are spewed from the "fundamental religious" community, the less I wish to associate myself with them. As a result of having read Prayers for Bobby some time ago, and especially now after having seen the movie, I have taken a very hard look at my own spirituality, where it comes from, what it means to me, and how it affects others in my life, particularly those that I love. -rejenna

What does it mean to be Spiritual and Religious?

This is a tricky question, because it really depends on what is meant by all right, by spiritual, and by religious. Let's start with what it means to be spiritual. The derivation of the word spirit comes from the Hebrew and Greek words for breath, air, and wind and their uses. In various biblical passages, God breathes life into humankind, sustains our breath throughout life, revives us when faint or short of breath, and gives us a second wind when we need it, until our dying, when we breathe our last. That's the basic meaning. Then there's Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones, when God infuses new life into the skeletal remains of a former people, dramatically demonstrating God's power to recreate life from death and decay in a real, live old testament resurrection story. In the biblical sense, all living creatures are spiritual by virtue of being given breath in the first place.

There's a derivative meaning, illustrated in Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in the gospel of John. Jesus is talking about being born again, of spirit from above, and Nicodemus is missing the point. In this sense, the word is used to refer to our awareness of the spiritual dimension of life, our alertness to the holiness in and around us, our capacity to sense the intangible realities of which the bible speaks. This awareness is focused in Jesus' invitation to Nicodemus to enter a new kind of life, characterized by a lively attention to grace through faith (or trust). In this sense of the word, we are all spiritual in differing ways and to differing degrees at various times, as we are more or less aware of the invisible, inaudible, impalpable sacredness of all things. This question seems to be using the word spiritual in this sense, referring to a conscious relationship with all that is holy.

Given this definition, it's obvious that there are a lot of folks out there who are spiritual and yet not religious. But what does it mean to be religious? The word comes from a Latin word meaning to bind. So religion is being bound by or binding ourselves to the priority of the spiritual in certain and various ways. When most people use the word, however, they are speaking of organized or institutional religion, as they say, meaning groups who have incorporated themselves into a recognizable not-for-profit entity under the laws of this country. Those who refer to religion in this way often condemn it for its self-interest. Such criticism is justifiable and even traditional, having been made repeatedly within scripture itself, the very scriptures held in such high regard by at least three major world religions.

It's worth noting that the criticism, while justifiable and traditional, is criticism of the distortion and perversion of true religion, which is elsewhere in scripture defined as the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart. Here's a tricky trap in the question. Whether we're standing inside or out of organized religion, if we're criticizing the other stance without applying the same standards to our own, we're not practicing true religion, defined as humility before God and recognition of our common humanity. That is the summary contained in the great commandment with its corollary—loving God with all we've got and neighbor as much as self.

It's the common humanity part that's the underlying issue of the question. As much as we might wish to, we can't escape being social creatures, only capable of differentiation within society itself. That's who we are, where we run into problems, and where we will resolve them too. Being aware of the spiritual dimension in life means sensing the sacred not only within ourselves but also among us. We can't be healed, made more whole, in a vacuum. The reason religion happens is because we need to work things out together, puzzle them out together, try them out on each other, mess up and labor to do better next time. If we aren't making mistakes, we aren't learning much. The bible calls mistakes sin and learning repentance.

Oftentimes religion is accused of hypocrisy because of the discrepancy between its spiritual vision and its own attempt to live up to it. Yet it's pretty easy to tell when religious groups acknowledge their shortcomings and care for one another and the world even as they struggle to become more true to the vision over time. It's a snail's pace because it involves so many talking at once and tripping over each other. Even so, when folk forbear one another and persevere in faith together, they get somewhere you just can't reach any other way. That's the point, where we might get if we were all on board.

So it's not altogether all right to be spiritual without being religious.It's only partly right for some, some of the time, but it can't be most right in the end, over time. In the end, we can't solve our own problems, in and of themselves, without coming to the awareness that our problems are the world's problems. We're all in this together, for better and for worse. There's really no way to secede from the human race. Certainly, we don't need to submit to someone else's view of religion, but we can't avoid the general conversation, and sooner or later we will need to make some effort on behalf of the whole, the holy. We can't do it all. Neither can we remain on the sidelines. We can only do our part.

We are all spiritual participants. When someone says to me that they have no part in religion, they typically proceed to tell me how they are organizing their relationship with the sacred, complete with ritual practices and devotional exercises meaningful to them, often with other companions so inclined. And I wonder if it will be only a matter of time before they are codifying and anathematizing and generally misbehaving spiritually along with the rest of us. Also, they typically proceed to tell me how and with whom they are still arguing with whatever form of religion has previously been crammed down their throat in an unhelpful manner. It is apparent that they are attempting to reinvent the wheel.

 A religion of one will not restore spiritual community, even though it might be the right place to hang out for a time, to cool off, to reconsider and redirect. Even those who have never affiliated, never had any family background of affiliation, even those cannot escape their engagement with the prevailing cultural stereotype of religion and the impact of religious extremism around the world. Being standoffish implies from whom. It can't be about God and me, only me and the Holy. However frustrating, it's about all of us and our broken community.True religion, while differentiating us, will also bind us together, in service to the holy and for the sake of the world. The religions we have, while imperfect, are the most time tested we have. We might as well see if we can use them for good, for God's sake.

"Be convicted in your own beliefs, do not convict others with them."

Listening

http://shelbytiegandtara.bandcamp.com/


Sunland, California’s “Shelby, Tieg & Tara” are a singing-songwriting folk trio.  They’ve been described as a modern Simon and Garfunkel, if they had sisters.  The trio formed in December of 09 when Tieg Johnson somehow managed to convince his two favorite singers, Shelby Lindley and Tara Louise, to be in a band with him.  Equipped with only their voices and an acoustic guitar, they found they were able to put a unique sound on each others original songs.  Shelby, Tieg & Tara are avidly performing in the SoCal area with 45 performances already under their belt in just 12 months.  They released their debut EP “Beauty Wood” May 30, 2010 to a sold out audience at the NoHo Arts Center.  Their second release “Off to Neverland” is being released January 29, 2011.




The first time I discovered this band is on a twitter by Charlie N Andy @HowToBeADad
in his tweet  "Like Harry Potter? Indie music? Can't stop listening to this..." I Love Indie Bands and was invited to watch the second/last installment of the HP movie by my friends (which I reluctantly agreed as I have not watched the first part of it...) so go figure.

I could listen to their songs all day...

You know, fathers just have a way of putting everything together. -Cosby, Erika

"The song that lies silent in the heart of a mother sings upon this lips of her child. --" -Gibran, Kahlil

And here is Charlie Capen,his "The Dude" on this video. 

http://www.vimeo.com/25689604

Perceptive

They don't get an answer they like? Or have slightly misunderstood an answer, which yes may have looked insulting, but, wasn't actually...? Then when you try to correct their misguidedness, they've blocked you before you have a chance? Isn't the point of this site to give advice, or share an opinion, whether people like it or not? Surely we aren't always going to agree? Please people you might have read wrong please recheck and then come to a conclusion. I'm about understanding and the last thing is that people would believe in rumors, and why you ask? To name one, to feel superior.

Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you either hear or are about to repeat a rumor. In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?" "Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."

"Three?"

"That's right, Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's True or not."

"Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be Useful to me?"

"No, not really..."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"

The man was defeated and ashamed. This was the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

Of course, it also may explain why Socrates never found out that Plato was cavorting with his wife.

With All Due Respect

Today we are so afraid of what is different that we’re not willing to learn about it or understand what’s believed or done. People need to learn to respect each other. Everything today revolves around respect for one another, and keeping an open mind. If you’re closed minded about things, then you just shut yourself from wonderful experiences. Just because we don’t understand a religion, nationality’s traditions or whatever, doesn’t mean that they are bad or anything of the sort. Just because a couple Muslims are terrorists, doesn’t mean the whole religion is; it’s actually a religion of peace not war. Not a lot of people are open minded anymore, we’re quick to making decisions about how we feel about a person long before we even know who they are deep down inside.

The Bible says “Ye without sin cast the first stone.” Don’t judge until you have all the facts, don’t stereotype an entire religion, race or nationality. We need to start trying to understand each other, and learn about each other before we can even begin to judge about who they are. Don’t label a person based on anything. All labels do is set us all part, and harm each other. After all we are all HUMAN, nothing more, nothing less. How would you like it if someone stereotyped you? How would you like to be labeled and judged. Keep in mind the golden rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Treat people the same way you want to be treated. Once we start understanding each other rather than judging each other, we may finally begin to find peace.

Next time you find yourself having an emotional reaction to something, take the time to notice what triggered this feeling. Observe the events that have occurred. Examine the data you selected. Think about the filters you use to interpret information. Identify your assumptions and conclusions. Understand the root of your feelings. And then select the action you will take.

Soul Searching

To my Soulmate, it’s me Rey. My journey has begun, I am 


searching, are you? Do I know you? Do you know me? Have we


already met and just don’t know it yet? Or we never met at all? 


Where are you? Do you live just down the road? In another town? 


Perhaps on the other side of the world? What are you thinking 


right now? Are you happy or sad? Is there anything I can do to 


help? Maybe I’m already helping. Does it feel sometimes there’s 


something missing? Your days feel long and lifeless, you want to 


find that something but don’t have any idea what it is, you’re 


looking for that one thing, that one thing that makes you feel that 


you can achieve anything, gives you the strength to say, yes, this 


is me, this is who I am, and this is the path I’m going to take. I want 


you to know that I am searching too. And if we ever do meet, I’ll be 


there to support you, help you follow your dreams. I want to wake 


up every single morning with you by my side and know that in my 


heart, everything’s going to be okay. Are you searching? Do you 


even want to be found? Will I ever get to be with you? Hold you; 


Keep you close; Understand what it’s like to be loved; What if we 


will never ever meet?

"To my Soulmate, I’d like to tell you that no matter what 

happens I will never stop searching. And if through all 

the darkness and drama that I’m going to take, I am still 

thinking of you, because, I love you. Yours truly, Rey."

Contemplating

Here is a movie called "Pope Joan" many of you are unfamiliar with...

Johanna Anglicus, our heroine, is an extremely gifted girl who suffers first hand the superstitious nonsense propagated and preached against anything female, leaving them little more than subservient and beholden to the whims of the male dominated society. The gate to the world of anything worth knowing was locked, only the re-birth as a boy giving you the key. Johanna doesn't wait for divine intervention.

Johanna thirsts for knowledge and secretly learns by listening to lessons her father, the village priest, gives her two brothers. Although apparently learned, he reveals himself to be a complete misogynist, doling out severe punishment he thinks appropriate for such behavior. Bring out the whip.

The story tries in vain to immerse us in what it was like to be a woman during that time. Religion and law almost identical, both thoroughly infused in society. Learning anything academic thought to be against the scriptures, the teachings of God. And there were very few exceptional males in higher positions willing to give a girl a chance. Johanna encountered a few mentors. But she soon realized it was better to just switch genders.

Interesting dialogues in the movie:

Hrotrud, the village midwife of Ingelheim, struggled through the snow toward the canon’s grubenhaus. 

"There is a saying among our people. ‘A wise man’s heart is seldom glad.’”

“Indeed,” Aesculapius went on, “is it not lack of faith that leads men to fear the scrutiny of reason? If the destination is doubtful, then the path must be fraught with fear. A robust faith need not fear, for if God exists, then reason cannot help but lead us to Him. ‘Cogito, ergo Deus est,’ argues St. Augustine, ‘I think, therefore God is.’”

“You must learn from my mistake,” Gudrun said fiercely, “so you do not repeat it. To marry is to surrender everything—not only your body but your pride, your independence, even your life. Do you understand? Do you?” She gripped Joan’s arm, fixing her with an urgent look. “Heed my words, daughter, if you ever mean to be happy: Never give yourself to a man.”

The bud of a rose grows in darkness. It knows nothing of the sun, yet it pushes at the darkness that confines it until at last the walls give way and the rose bursts forth, spreading its petals into the light.

“Changeling child, you are what you will not be; what you will become is other than you are.”

Strange, the workings of the heart. One could go on for years, habituated to loss, reconciled to it, and then, in a moment’s unwary thought, the pain resurfaced, sharp and raw as a fresh wound.

The incongruity of the sacred altar and its pagan base seemed to Joan a perfect symbol of herself: a Christian priest, she still dreamed of her mother’s heathen gods; a man in the eyes of the world, she was tormented by her secret woman’s heart; a seeker of faith, she was torn between her desire to know God and her fear that He might not exist. Mind and heart, faith and doubt, will and desire. Would the painful contradictions of her nature ever be reconciled?

Why, she wondered, do we always reserve our worst hatred for our own?

“Surely you know, Holiness, that the size of a woman’s brain and her uterus are inversely proportionate; therefore, the more a girl learns, the less likely she will ever bear children.”

Aware Within

I want to pontificate about something. The evolution in what we consider intelligence is probably the most interesting in all evolution in my opinion, because in the technological level, we could not be more advance, we’re flourishing in technology, we have ipods, we have computers, wiifii, everything; it’s insane. We are flourishing technologically speaking. As far as introspectively and being self-aware we couldn’t be more debunked, we couldn’t be more “off the creek”. And I know it’s a rather silly, kind of simple thought, but when you can actually think about that sometimes in relationships.  

How is it humanly possible; any kind of possible, that we have people roaming this earth such as Shakespeare. We were self-aware at one point in time, not that everybody is Shakespeare, it’s just fascinating to me someone could walk the earth such as Shakespeare. As a whole were not whole, and it’s like; where are we heading in a personal level? When everyone thinks about the future, they think about technology and flying cars. When I think about the future, I’m worried about, how we would be as people on a personal level? People are becoming more and more detached from themsleves and more and more attached to inanimate objects such as computers. It’s like computers replaced Soul. I like my computer but I also love my spirit and my soul. What I mean is that people are so occupied, that they don’t have time for introspection and they’re so distracted. When you think about it, how could we be distracted from ourselves? There are so much going on the outer world that our inner world is just completely pushed to the side. I was talking to my friend earlier and he was like: Do you ever get times were your sad and you don’t know why? And; to be honest, I never have those times. I always know why I’m sad. I am not saying that it’s technology’s fault for us to become less self evolved. I am however saying, just as a whole, all science cannot point to the fact that we are becoming more “dumbed-down” mentally and emotionally, and our toys are becoming smarter, isn’t that odd? We are becoming so self-unaware, so oblivious to ourselves, that the objects we are creating are smarter than us. And that is a very frightening thought. So people, please take time to write poetry, it’s heading to the point that I’m wondering; Is poetry going to be extinct? Is journalising going to be extinct? I think everything is so saturated now, even our thoughts. Check in with yourselves people, ask yourselves how you feel, take that alone time. There’s a problem going on and I’m just worried of the future. If you feel that you’re lost on inanimate objects or something, take some time-out for you. I know computer is a great resourceful thing but it’s like, there so much knowledge on it but we set aside those and focus on the “lazy-entertainment” it offers. Give your mind a workout, I know, I sound like I know everything but I am just really worried, truthfully, just about people in general, because I feel like people don’t know their intentions anymore, they don’t even know how they feel. I had this conversation with multiple people and peer groups. 

Thank you all for reading.

If we get to the point where we can make these machines to be self aware, then there’s a probable chance that we took the “machines working for us” too far, especially if they are capable of any reasoning.